The present invention relates generally to information technology component testing, and more particularly to network infrastructure testing.
Data Center infrastructure is often taken for granted, with assumptions being made for the performance of infrastructure components, such as network cables, without actually measuring, testing, or verifying that performance requirements are met or exceeded. Evaluations focusing on the network data transfer rates, retransmits, packet failure rates, and related information transfer over network infrastructure components often reveal a wide difference between expected and actual results of quality levels and proven performance.
One example of providing an accurate Information Technology (IT) infrastructure evaluation currently requires measuring copper cabling with specialized tools, applications, and trained specialists. Measuring the bandwidth and failure rate of network transmission medium such as category 5e, category 6, or similarly labeled infrastructure provides a more accurate information base to plan bandwidth-intensive production environments. Current approaches to network component testing involves external devices that require full access to the hardware, and in some cases, disconnection and reconnection of the component being tested. Network component testing, such as testing of network cables, for example, cannot be conducted while network components are operating in production environments.